Photos of the day 04/06

View Gallery

Female antigovernment protestors pray during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa,Yemen. Defying a deadly government crackdown, tens of thousands of protesters have poured into the streets. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland carry the coffin of their colleague Ronan Kerr to a funeral mass at the Church of Immaculate Conception in Beragh, Northern Ireland. Government and church leaders from across Ireland joined several thousand mourners for the funeral of the Catholic policeman slain by IRA dissidents – a rare killing that has highlighted the dramatic social changes of Northern Ireland's peace process. Peter Morrison/AP

Pakistani farmers harvest wheat in the suburbs of Hyderabad, Pakistan. According to an official of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, wheat production this year is expected to be affected by a shortage of fertilizer and water. Pervez Masih/AP

A mother and her child attend a memorial service held at a local church in Harare, Zimbabwe, to remember those killed during Zimbabwe's election violence. Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

A Libyan rebel fighter stands next to a pickup truck on which the rebels have mounted a rocket launcher, normally used on a helicopter, near Brega, Libya. NATO rejected criticism from Libyan rebels over the pace of its military campaign in Libya, saying that its airstrikes against Muammar Qaddafi's forces are increasing every day. Ben Curtis/AP

Mirano Suzuki talks with her mother, Yasuko, on her first day of school at the Shimizu Elementary School in Fukushima, northern Japan. More than 70 schools began their regular classes in the city of Fukushima, more than three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on March 11. Suzuki's family were evacuated from their house, located 3 miles from the Fukushima nuclear reactor. Carlos Barria/Reuters

In a seminary in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran, Iranian clerics gather to condemn the crackdown on the Bahraini opposition and to denounce Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia for putting down the antigovernment protests in the Gulf kingdom. Sadegh Zabbah/AP

President Obama shakes hands with a young boy as he greets people on the tarmac during his arrival at Philadelphia International Airport. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Workers remove notes from the cracks in the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City. As the Jewish holiday of Passover draws near, workers cleaned out the cracks to make room for more paper notes that Jews believe are notes to God. Darren Whiteside/Reuters

Children arrive Tuesday at a transit camp in Zorgowee, Liberia, for refugees who fled the postelection violence in Ivory Coast. More than 125,000 Ivorians have fled to Liberia, while 7,000 have crossed into Ghana, 1,700 into Togo, and about 1,000 into Guinea, according to the UNHCR. Benoit Matsha-Carpentier/Reuters

An ornithologist holds a stork before setting it free on the great Hungarian plains in Hortobagy, Hungary. Every year, employees of Budapest Zoo capture storks that are too young to make the journey south to Africa before the onset of winter in order to help them survive the cold months before setting them free in warmer weather. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

A Lebanese protester whose relative is a prisoner, clashes with riot policemen who guard the main entrance of the compound of the central Roumieh prison, in Roumieh, Lebanon. Lebanese security officials say police have stormed the country's largest prison to halt a day-long riot by the inmates, and that two prisoners died during the operation. The rioting started on Saturday by prisoners demanding improved conditions. They later set a fire inside one of the prison buildings. Bilal Hussein/AP

Greens/European Free Alliance French members hold crossed nuclear signs and others with wind turbines at the beginning of a debate on the implications of Japan's Fukushima disaster on nuclear safety in Europe during a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Vincent Kessler/Reuters

Elizabeth Joliffe, age 1, plays amongst some daffodils at Maidenhead, in southern England. It was predicted to be the warmest day of the year so far in Britain, local media reported. Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Bob Mason from Pinebluff, N.C., left, holds a flag and John Oltsevig, from Carthage, N.C., holds a sign during an Americans for Prosperity 'Cut Spending Now' rally on Capitol Hill in Washington. Alex Brandon/AP

A man unwraps a painting called 'Silvio & Ruby' made with plastic bags and scotch tape by Israeli artist Dodi Reifenberg at the Edward Cutler gallery in Milan, Italy. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of paying for sex with underaged prostitute Karima El Mahroug, also known as Ruby 'Rubacuori,' opened today and was immediately adjourned until May 31. Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

Mourners react as they gather around the coffin of Israeli-Palestinian actor, director, filmmaker and political activist Juliano Mer-Khamis, during his wake in Haifa, northern Israel. Mer-Khamis was gunned down Monday in the West Bank town where he ran a drama school and community theater, and was laid to rest today in a kibbutz in northern Israel. Ariel Schalit/AP

Soldiers loyal to Alassane Ouattara prepare to deploy at a checkpoint at one of the principal entrances to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Rebecca Blackwell/AP

As Venezuelan politicians prepare for long-delayed gubernatorial elections, some opposition members have argued that their participation would validate the increasingly undemocratic government. But memories of a backfiring boycott in 2005 have hung over the decision.

Since April, Venezuela’s opposition coalition seemed to be gaining the kind of support and momentum it was long criticized for lacking. Its calls for peaceful protests and boycotts were met by a broad, consistent turnout, and an unofficial referendum it organized in July led more than 7 million Venezuelans at home and abroad to condemn the increasingly authoritarian moves of President Nicolás Maduro’s government.